


When the Moon Bleeds

by OneBlueJay



Series: Naruto Merfolk AUs that No One Asked For [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Gen, Kidnapping, M/M, Merperson Senju Tobirama, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 19:13:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20458067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneBlueJay/pseuds/OneBlueJay
Summary: Pirate Captain Uchiha Madara goes fishing.The mer he drags up is not pleased.





	When the Moon Bleeds

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really into mer!AUs right now, so bear with me.

The mer was starlight dripping scarlet. It lay on its side, fins twisted haphazardly, gills fluttering against the strands of the net. It had long since ceased fighting, claws useless against the metal-threaded fibers, but not before those fibers had carved paper-thin gashes through its skin and scales. It bled as red as the crimson swirls tracing its body.

“It’s albino. We found an albino mer.” Hikaku practically trembled with excitement at Madara’s side, and the elder had to suppress a smile.

On the creature’s other side, Izuna scoffed and kicked its tailfin with the toe of his boot. “Great. All that trouble and we couldn’t even catch a normal one.” The bite that the mer had given him as he’d helped lug it aboard clearly hurt less than his wounded pride.

“Maybe it’s more common than we think,” Hikaku mused quietly, but given how many mer Madara had glimpsed over the years, he highly doubted that.

Izuna snorted. “Well, whatever, let’s get it in the tank before it dries out.” He snapped his fingers when the crew didn’t immediately move to help. “What, scared? Chop, chop, motherfuckers. We’re on a time limit.”

The crew’s fear of their first-mate only slightly overruled their fear of what had quickly become known as the White Demon. The ship’s doctor would be busy all night patching up lacerations and missing chunks of flesh. 

Madara watched as the mer noticed the crew’s terror and quirked its bleeding lips in a savage grin.

Not sentient, his ass.

Madara _had_ been intending to catch a different mer, the one he’d nicknamed Hashirama after the place he most often saw the overly-friendly mer: perched on a rocky outcropping between two limestone pillars. His crew probably would have preferred to catch that mer, too. Hashirama seemed rather fond of humans and probably wouldn’t have put up such a violent fight.

This one, on the other hand, this one was a terror.

Unlike Hikaku, Madara had not been surprised when the net had dragged up an ivory white, nearly translucent form. He’d glimpsed it before, always in the company of Hashirama, but unlike Hashirama, it had never left the safety of the water. Perhaps that was why Madara had never noticed how pretty it was. 

The crew maneuvered the exhausted, awkwardly bound mer into the narrow tank with little resistance on its part (blood loss might be an issue, Madara mused), yet the moment that the lid shut, the crew heaved a collective sigh of relief as if they’d just outrun a navy flagship. Fucking pathetic lot.

Izuna clapped his hands together and beamed, a bead of bloody sweat dripping down the his temple as he asked, “Who wants a drink?”

Madara left his brother to do what he did best—drink the rest of the crew under the table—as he settled down next to his latest prize with a bottle of better-than-average rum. The mer’s ruby red eyes, still frighteningly sharp, followed him.

“So,” he began, resting his arms on his knees and leaning forward, “welcome aboard.” He clinked the bottle against the glass and grinned when the mer recoiled. The movement caused the net to cut more deeply into its skin, sending new curls of blood into the already murky water.

“If you weren’t so bratty, we wouldn’t have to keep you like that, you know.”

The mer must have recognized the condescension in his voice because its lips pulled back in a snarl.

Madara grinned wider. “Hm, what should I call you. . . something close to Hashirama, I think. You two clearly know each other.” He eyed the door-like lid. “How about Tobirama? Yes, I like that. Tobirama, the space between two doors. Like a buffer.” He tapped his chin with one finger. “That’s what you’re going to be—a buffer between your kind and me, because if I’ve learned anything over the past few years of watching you fishy, treasure-hogging bastards, it’s that you’re wildly empathetic when it comes to each other.” The grin stretched farther, probably bordering on what Izuna would describe as unhinged. “And what treasure-hogging mer is going to try to fight me off when I’ve got a knife to another mer’s throat?”

Tobirama stared at him for a moment, then arched the bioluminescent streak above its left eye and snorted.

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe I'll write a sequel? I sort of want to go back to Fishbones first, but who knows.
> 
> A few world-building notes:
> 
> \- Merfolk are known to collect and viciously defend shiny objects.
> 
> \- They are also known to viciously defend each other from human interlopers. By holding one hostage, Madara hopes to make stealing those shiny objects easier.
> 
> \- He also wants a pretty fish.


End file.
